Bloodlust
by Roses in December
Summary: A new detective trying to make a name for herself. A seasoned police officer protecting more than secrets...but secrets can be deadly.
1. Welcome to Forks

"Black coffee, please."

"Cream, sugar, anything?"

"No thanks." The waitress moved on to the next table and I took the opportunity to look around the small diner I was in. There were maybe three other tables besides mine that were occupied; it had made me chuckle when the waitress apologized for the breakfast rush. Guess that's what it was like living in a town as small as Forks, Washington.

"Isabella Swan?"

"Bella." I corrected the new voice automatically before glancing up to see who it was. My mouth almost fell open in shock before I remembered where I was and kept it clamped shut. An unfamiliar man stood in front of me, messy copper hair topping golden eyes set in a perfect face. He flashed a police badge before sitting down across from me.

"Lieutenant Edward Cullen. Forks PD." He extended a hand to me, and after a brief hesitation I shook it. Luckily the waitress chose that time to reappear with my coffee, setting it down in front of me. I took a sip, trying to reorganize my thoughts and bring myself back under control.

"Anything for you today, Edward?" The waitress batted her eyelashes at him. It was almost comical how cliche this was; he must be something of a bigshot around town. Exactly how much of a bigshot you could be in a town this small, I wasn't sure.

"Just coffee. Thanks, Marie." She nodded and zoomed away, coming back a few seconds later with his coffee. I frowned; mine had taken a good ten minutes longer to come out. I watched as he ripped open a packet of half and half and poured it into his coffee, swirling it around before taking a sip. Then he set it down on the table between us and looked up at me, folding his arms across his chest as he studied me. I squirmed uncomfortably, furious at myself for how I was surely coming across. I needed to be confident and unshakeable, not moved by the first man who talked to me. "So." The word lingered between us and I grabbed frantically for it.

"I'll need copies of all of the reports. I was hoping to go to the station later today so I can meet with everyone who's involved in the investigation."

Edward nodded, saying nothing, his gaze still fixed on me. His unusually golden eyes were unreadable.

"Look, I know you probably don't want me here," I burst out. "I'm here to help out. I don't want to get in anyone's way or step on anyone's toes, so your cooperation would be nice." I had rehearsed those exact words on the way here and they came out perfectly. I blushed bright red as I spoke though, ruining the effect.

"You're right. We don't want you here; we can handle things just fine on our own." He spoke in level, even tones. I held back a gasp, instead narrowing my eyes as I leaned forward across the table towards him.

"If you were handling things so well I don't think they would have sent me here, would they?"

There was silence, then a soft chuckle. "Touché. Don't expect to get a very warm welcome though," he warned. "People are extra suspicious right now, and they don't take well to newcomers at the best of times."

"Understandable."

Suddenly his phone buzzed. He pulled it out, glancing at it before standing up abruptly. "Excuse me but I need to go."

"Something about the case?" He didn't answer, but his expression told me everything I needed to know.

"I'm going with you." I grabbed my jacket and stood up.

"You're staying here," he said, just the hint of a growl in his voice.

"Like it or not, I'm a part of the investigation now. I'll find out eventually."

"Fine." He tossed a ten dollar bill down on the table before spinning on his heels and exiting. I hurried to keep up with him, struggling to put my jacket on as we walked. I followed him over to a silver Volvo, pausing as he got in. "I'm off-duty; we don't drive our patrol cars when we're not working. Get in now before I change my mind." I slid into the passenger seat, barely having time to buckle my seatbelt before he was off.

Edward Cullen drove faster than anyone I'd ever met. My hands remained clenched to the sides of my seat for the entire duration of the ride. "Guess it's good you're a cop, huh? So you can drive fast all the time." I tried to lighten the mood but one sideways glance from him quieted me.

We finally made it there in one piece. Instantly Edward was out of the car, making his way towards the group of people clustered together by the woods. I rushed after him, mentally preparing myself for what I was probably about to see.

The crowd parted to let us through, all of them deathly silent. A police officer was straightening up in front of us, his face gray and ashen as he turned to us. "It's bad," was all he said before stepping back to let us by. I heard Edward mutter a curse under his breath and then I was next to him, looking down at the ground.

A badly mangled body lay in front of us. It had been torn apart so badly that I couldn't even tell if the person had been male or female. I felt bile rise up in my throat, forced myself not to be sick. It wouldn't do much for my credibility to be sick my first day on the job.

"Call the coroner." Edward's voice was strangely calm.

"Already done." The other policeman had averted his eyes and was keeping them fixed on the trees off to our left.

The first few reporters had already started appearing, and I saw names as big as Port Angeles and even Seattle. The case must have already been getting some major coverage for all of these news channels to descend on tiny Forks.

"What do you have to say about reports of a serial killer in Forks?" The reporter stuck her mic in my face but when I remained silent she turned to Edward. He shook his head, turning away from the body.

"Nothing to say at this point." His tones were clipped, short.

"This is the third person killed in the span of a month. Hardly an accident, I'd say." The reporter's tone was conversational, as if this was a dinner party rather than the scene of a crime.

"No comment," Edward growled. He escaped to go meet the coroner, both of them talking in hushed tones. I moved closer to the body, morbid fascination not allowing me to look away. I hadn't seen much in my five years of practice, but this seemed different. With the way the body had been torn apart and mutilated, it almost seemed as if the killer wasn't even human.

* * *

 **Review please! I want to know if this story is worth continuing/if my ideas are any good!**


	2. Questions

**Okay so I got really motivated (and procrastinated on studying) and wrote the next chapter today! Please please please let me know what you think!**

* * *

When we finally made it to the police station, it was a complete madhouse. Officers were rushing around everywhere, followed closely by terrified people from town who had come seeking reassurance. I followed Edward to his office, weaving in and out of clusters of people standing around. I got a few prolonged glances thrown my way but for the most part they didn't seem to realize I didn't belong there.

"Cullen." A towering bear of a man rose up from inside Edward's office. Edward greeted him with a curt nod before sinking down into his chair behind the desk. "Who's she?" The man barked, as if I wasn't standing right in front of him.

"This is Detective Swan, from the federal office. Detective Swan, this is Chief Harris." I prepared for a handshake but the chief's arms remained tightly folded across his chest as he turned back to Edward. Well fine then.

"This town has officially lost it," Harris declared. "I've had no less than fifty phone calls in the last hour asking me to send a patrol to check out a suspicious car parked on their street."

"Can you blame them?" Edward was already typing away furiously on his computer. I hovered near the door, not sure whether to speak up or remain silent for now.

"Do we have a name?" It took me a second to realize they had moved on to discussing the body we'd found earlier.

"No, everything was too smashed up to tell. The coroner's going to check dental records and fingerprints later to try to figure out who it was."

"Have there been any missing person reports filed recently?" I made up my mind; I wasn't going to stand back like a kid and let the adults do everything. Harris glanced back at me as if he had just remembered I was here.

"Only one in the last week."

"So chances are..." I let my sentence trail off, blushing bright red. These were seasoned police officers; I'm sure they'd already connected the dots.

"We have our suspicions of course; we're just waiting for the coroner to confirm them." Edward stopped typing and stood up. He edged past Harris and I to the door, pausing and turning around. "You wanted those reports?" He raised his eyebrow; I scrambled to follow him, glad for a reason to get away from Harris. Edward led the way down the long hallway, nodding greetings to everyone we passed. We stopped in what looked like the break room - there were chairs, a microwave and fridge, and a printer to tie everything together. Edward grabbed a few papers off the printer and handed them to me. "Read as much as you want but these papers don't leave the station. Got it?" I nodded, already glancing over them.

"Can you give me a rundown on everything that's happened so far and everything you know?" The reports were awfully wordy; it would take a long time to get the vital information from them. Edward sighed, running a hand through his already-messy hair.

"Sure, but it might take a bit to cover everything." He moved to one of the chairs to sit down and I followed, settling across from him. "So, from the beginning. We found the first body three weeks ago, on the other side of town in the woods. She died of blood loss from puncture wounds in the neck."

"Puncture wounds...like from a knife?" I asked slowly, trying to understand. A brief, unreadable expression flitted across his face.

"Like from an animal."

"So why do you think a human is doing this?" I frowned, not understanding the connection.

"The first victim, Madison Wilson, had drugs show up on her tox screen. Prescription-strength sedatives. So did the second, Erica Waller. We're still waiting to identity the body today but it won't surprise any of us if it comes back positive for drugs. Both girls were missing for a few days before we found their bodies, so we know they had to have taken those drugs sometime between when they went missing and when we found their bodies. The killer probably did this to control them."

"So someone's drugging these girls, killing them, then dumping them in the woods? Did the animal bites happen after they died, possibly from some scavenger?"

"The bites were inflicted before they died, per the coroner. Besides, an animal wouldn't bite the neck and leave the rest of the body alone."

"Maybe he did it to cover his tracks," I mused. "Make people think an animal did it."

"If that was his plan, he might be the worst killer we've ever seen."

"He's still out there, though, so maybe he's better than we're giving him credit for." My words hung in the air as heavy silence fell.

"We'll catch him," Edward said, grim determination in his voice.

"That's what I'm here to help with." I glanced down at the reports in my hand. "I think I'll start talking to people today, just to feel things out." He nodded, standing up.

"I'm going back to talk to Harris but feel free to use anything here. If you have any questions, you know where my office is." He disappeared, leaving me alone in the lounge.

* * *

An hour later I found myself outside Madison Wilson's house. Her parents lived in a quaint two-story house with a wraparound porch, something that I had noticed was common to houses in Forks. It made sense; with all the beautiful forests, I'd want to be outside as much as I could.

I hesitated before walking up the sidewalk and knocking on the front door. A few seconds later the door opened a crack, revealing a man at the door. "Hi, Mr. Wilson? I'm Detective Swan. I'm here to ask you and your wife a few questions, if now is a good time." I held up my badge. He nodded, opening the door wider as he ushered me inside.

"Can I get you water or anything?" He ran a hand through thinning brown hair, hovering awkwardly between me and the front door.

"I'm alright, thank you."

I followed him into the living room, taking a seat in one of the chairs while he settled on the couch. A woman appeared a few seconds later, her eyes darting warily between her husband and I. "This is Detective Swan. She wants to ask us some questions." Mr. Wilson sounded tired, as if they'd gone through this routine many times.

"Haven't you made us re-live this enough?" I was taken aback by the venom in her voice.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, we're just trying to piece together more information so we can bring justice to your daughter."

"Anna..." Mr. Wilson stood up, folding his wife into his arms as she dissolved into sobs. He held her and I stood up.

"I'll just come back another time..."

"Just give me a minute and I'll be ready to talk," he murmured, gently leading his wife out of the room. A few minutes later he reappeared, swiping the back of his hand across his eyes before sitting back down. "Don't blame her. She's not usually like this," he said in way of apology.

"I don't blame her at all," I said softly. "I'm sorry we have to meet under these circumstances."

"Maddy was a great girl. Got good grades and was involved in a lot of clubs at schools...I just can't understand why someone would want to do this." His voice cracked.

"Mr. Wilson, can you tell me a little more about Maddy? What she was involved in specifically at school, who she hung out with, stuff like that?"

"She had lots of friends. Seemed like all the kids liked her - homecoming queen and all that. She was on the student council and played volleyball and soccer."

"Did she ever talk about any fights or arguments she might have had with anyone at school?"

Mr. Wilson thought for a second, then shook his head. "Not that she ever mentioned to us."

"Who were the people she was with the most?"

"Bethany Stallings, Alyssa Crowley, and Jen Mallory." I jotted down the names quickly, making a mental note to speak to all three of them later. "Mr. Wilson, thank you so much for your time. It was very helpful." I stood up, shaking his hand before showing myself out. The door shut firmly behind me.

* * *

"What do you know about the kids at the high school?" I was back at the station, slumped down in a chair in front of Edward's desk as I nursed a cup of coffee. It had been almost twelve hours since the body had been found and we were still working though all of the normal people in town were asleep by now.

"They keep out of trouble for the most part," he murmured, not taking his eyes off the computer.

"What about Alyssa Crowley, Jen Mallory, and Bethany, um, Stallings?" I asked, glancing down at my notebook.

"Madison's friends." Edward didn't sound surprised; I'm sure he had turned over the same information when he had talked to the Wilsons. "We've already talked to each of them. None of them had anything useful to contribute."

"I might try talking to them again tomorrow."

"Go ahead. Good luck getting anything out of them."

"Getting anything out of them?"

"Yeah. They clammed up when I asked them about their relationship with Madison. Guess they had a recent falling-out or something." He didn't sound concerned, though his words sent up several red flags in my head.

"And you didn't think to follow up with that? Did they have alibis for when she went missing?"

"They didn't do it."

"You sound sure about that."

"I am." For the first time Edward looked up at me, his eyes locked onto mine. "Trust me, they didn't have anything to do with her death."

"Hmph. I'm still going to question them though." I got up, intending to go hunt for another cup of coffee.

"I wouldn't expect anything less," he called down the hall after me.


	3. An Invitation

**Edward**

 _We'd love if you could join us for dinner tomorrow_. I glanced down at my phone as it buzzed, frowning as I read the text. Esme had been on me nonstop in the last few weeks trying to get everyone together for dinner. Rose and Emmett were in town for the holidays and she was bound and determined to get us all under the same roof for at least half an hour.

 _Now's not really a great time. This case is keeping me pretty busy._ I hated making Esme sad but I hated not having a lead even more.

 _Can't even take an hour off of work,_ followed by a sad face. I rolled my eyes and groaned. Her guilt trips always worked on me and she knew it.

 _Fine. One hour. And one hour ONLY._ I emphasized the "only", knowing fully well that it wouldn't just be an hour. Esme sent me back a couple exclamation points and a smiley face.

I ran my fingers through my hair, aggravated. All of this work with no breaks was taking its toll on me, and I could only come up with so many excuses for staying at the office all night without sleeping. Sooner or later people would start getting suspicious.

"I think I'm gonna head home." I passed by Harris' office; he barely glanced up from his work as he grunted a goodbye. Slipping my jacket on, I stepped out into the cold night air.

Slowly I made my way over to my Volvo, hands thrust deep in my pockets as my mind flashed through the events of the day. The coroner had called us back - the new victim was Katie Connolly, yet another young girl from town, and she had been found with drugs in her system much like the first two girls. The only thing we had to go on was that all the girls were the same age. All had been juniors at Forks High School, but beyond that the similarities ended. They all ran with different social crowds; there was absolutely nothing else linking them.

There was no evidence that the killer was anything but human...and yet I couldn't help but wonder. A normal human couldn't have done some of the damage that was done to these bodies, yet anything stronger than a human wouldn't need sedatives to keep the girls under control.

I drove quickly to my small house on the edge of town, my mind on autopilot as it raced through the details of the case for the millionth time. I had insisted on buying the house myself on my modest salary, against Carlisle and Esme's wishes to build me a bigger house more on the scale of theirs. It was small and older, but it was home.

As I made my way up the front steps, I heard the faintest flicker of...something. I paused at the door, listening, but I didn't hear it again. Shaking my head, I unlocked the door and went inside, shutting it firmly behind me.

* * *

 **Bella**

The next morning started out gray and dreary, much like my mood. I made my way to the police station after picking up a quick breakfast from the one gas station in town.

"Morning." I greeted Edward blearily, sinking down into a chair in the lounge as I reached for the stack of reports. He nodded back at me, not taking his eyes off the piece of paper in his hand. "What's that?"

"Coroner's report."

"Mind if I take a look?" I stood up and moved next to him, acutely aware of how close our bodies were. He glanced at me and something flared up in his eyes, but then his gaze dropped back to the report. "Sedatives found in her system...sounds about the same as the first two girls."

Edward nodded, his jaw twitching. "Harris called a press conference for later today. The town needs to know." I could practically see the tension in his muscles as he spoke - the case must be taking a huge toll on him.

"I'm going to go talk to those girls today. Maddy's friends." I took a step back to disconnect myself from the electricity flowing between us.

"Go right ahead," Edward murmured, his attention back on the paper. I grabbed the other reports and made my way back through the police station. I greeted Harris as I passed but he stared right back at me as if he didn't remember who I was. Knowing him, he probably had already forgotten our meeting yesterday. Time to go try to dig up some more information.

* * *

"I talked to the girls. Nothing." I dropped into the seat across from Edward at the diner table. He nodded but it wasn't a smug, "I-told-you-so" nod. He looked even more exhausted than earlier, if that was possible. "You should get some sleep." I wasn't sure where this sudden concern for his well-being was coming from.

"As soon as I crack this case, I'll celebrate with a nap."

"What can I get you, honey?" The sugar-sweet voice of the waitress (Marie? I think?) dripped into my ear, interrupting us. I turned to her, already having scanned over the short menu.

"Club sandwich, no tomatoes."

"Sure thing." She disappeared into the back, leaving us alone again.

"Edward?" Both of us jumped; we had been so invested in our conversation that we hadn't even noticed anyone come up to our table. I looked upwards into the eyes of a dazzlingly beautiful woman. She had soft caramel hair, ridiculously symmetrical features, and the same strange golden eyes Edward had.

"Esme! What are you doing here?" There was a guarded expression on his face as he jumped up to give her a quick hug. I watched them curiously - current or previous girlfriend, maybe?

"I stopped by to grab lunch. I thought you were too busy with work to take any breaks."

"We all have to eat." He shrugged and they shared a smirk. I knew there had to be some inside joke between them that I didn't understand.

"Who's this?" She turned her attention to me, a smile flitting over her beautiful features.

"Bella Swan. I'm helping out with the investigation." I spoke up before Edward could.

"It's certainly nice to meet you, Bella. I'm Esme Cullen, Edward's mother. I hope you're enjoying Forks...as well as you can under the circumstances." Esme winced. For some reason I was relieved to hear that she wasn't some former lover, even though I had no right to be feeling that way about him.

"It's not so bad." A half smile lifted the corner of my mouth. "I get at least ten channels in my hotel room and the gas station food isn't half bad."

Esme gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "Don't tell me you've been eating...that...for every meal."

"Not every meal. I've eaten here a couple times also."

"How awful. You simply _must_ join us for dinner tonight!"

"Esme..." Edward muttered something else under his breath, shooting her a warning glare.

"Don't be rude, Edward. I raised you better than that." He fell silent and she turned her attention back to me. "So what do you say?"

"I'm not sure...I really do need to get a lot of work done today," I admitted.

"Yes, she's probably too busy," Edward interjected quickly. I glanced at him, eyebrows raised, slightly miffed that he was trying so hard to un-invite me.

"On the other hand, a homemade dinner does sound pretty good though." I couldn't resist getting under his skin a bit.

"Perfect, it's settled! I'll see both of you tonight at seven. Edward can pick you up." With that, Esme flounced off, leaving a cloud of perfume behind. Edward groaned, his face buried in his hands.

"She's too much sometimes."

"She's sweet. It's nice having someone care about you that much."

"I'm sure you're used to it too with your parents."

"Actually, I don't have any parents." Edward raised his head out of his hands, eyes fixed on me. "My mom died when I was seven, so then I went to live with my dad. He passed away a couple years ago."

"I'm so sorry," he murmured, his voice velvety. "I didn't mean to sound insensitive."

"You didn't. It's okay." I brushed it off, not taking offense.

"So, about dinner tonight...my family is kind of a lot to handle."

"If you don't want me to go, I won't," I said sincerely. Both of us were unconsciously leaning towards each other over the table.

"Esme already got a confirmation from you though." He smiled wryly. "Wouldn't want to hurt her feelings."

"Of course not." I realized how close together we were and pulled back, leaning back in my chair as I glanced down at the table.

"Just...prepare yourself."

* * *

 **Kind of a filler chapter...but the next one should be good! Review review review!**


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